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Alzheimer's, Parkinson's groups team up for research

Karen Weintraub
Special for USA TODAY
  • Alzheimer%27s and Parkinson%27s share similarities in the damage they cause
  • Research groups will offer joint research grants
  • Both diseases show symptoms years after the actual onset of disease
Michael J. Fox at an event in New York City on Nov. 9, 2013. His Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is teaming with two other groups to better study Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Although people with the memory loss of Alzheimer's disease and the physical problems of Parkinson's disease look very different, a growing body of research suggests that their biological damage is quite similar.

To better understand those similarities — and why some people end up with one condition versus the other — three foundations that support research into the diseases are joining forces.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, the Alzheimer's Association and The W. Garfield Weston Foundation of Canada announced Wednesday that they will offer joint research grants to help unpack the similarities and differences between these degenerative diseases, which together affect 6 million Americans.

The biology of the two diseases look "much more similar than they do clinically and much more similar than we thought," said Todd Sherer, CEO of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, named for the actor who launched it after being diagnosed with the disease.

Both diseases are caused by a buildup of proteins in the brain, and both show symptoms years if not decades after the disease process has begun. Inflammation is known to play a role in both. And in both conditions, there are medications that can improve symptoms, but none that affects the course of disease.

The hope is that by collaborating on research, scientists will gain insights that will lead to early diagnostics and better, more targeted treatments for both diseases, said Heather Snyder, director of medical and scientific relations for the Alzheimer's Association.

Alzheimer's is characterized by memory loss, personality change, and a declining ability to plan or perform the functions of daily life. It usually strikes people in their 70s or 80s, though genetic mutations can lead to earlier onset. Striking more women than men, it is eventually fatal, with death often taking a decade or more.

Parkinson's generally strikes earlier — usually in the 50s or 60s — is more likely to be diagnosed in men, and causes motor problems like tremors, rigidity and slowness, though it can also affect cognition, mood and sleep.

One recent study of people who had died from Alzheimer's showed a buildup of proteins that are the hallmark of Parkinson's, suggesting a closer connection between the two conditions than has been commonly appreciated.

It makes sense to collaborate now, Snyder and Sherer said, to take advantage of new, large data sets and biological sample collections in both diseases — the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.

"We have an incredible opportunity in these two diseases because of these large-scale studies," Sherer said. "You now have this chance to fundamentally test hypotheses across the two diseases because the information and biological material exist, ready to go."

Researchers can begin applying for the Biomarkers Across Neurodegenerative Disease grant funding as soon as Thursday.

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